Observational Learning

Social Cognitive Theory is an extension of Social Learning Theory, which asserts that learning can be rooted in observations of others’ behaviors and the consequences of those behaviors (i.e., not solely based on direct experience). Social Cognitive Theory adds that one’s way of thinking (cognition) can be affected by models/behaviors encountered through symbolic communication and mass media.

Social Learning Theory describes learning is both a behavioral and cognitive process that is occurs in social settings. Learning is defined as extracting information (reminiscent of Cognitivism) and/or changes in behavior (reminiscent of Behaviorism), thus attending to both mental and physical activity. An immediate upshot is that rewards play a role in learning but are not entirely responsible for motivating that learning.

Classical Conditioning is concerned with studying and affecting reflexive, nonvoluntary behaviors that are not under the learners’ control (e.g., salivation), and it deals with training learners to use neutral stimuli (e.g., a bell sound) to elicit those behaviors. The principal strategy is to present the stimulus when the target behavior occurs so that the learner forms an association between them.

Distributed Cognition attends to the ways that humans use social and technological means to off-load some of their thinking. In this frame, “cognition” is understood to extend across members of a social group and to be invested in physical artefacts and environments. That is, the social and material worlds that humans structure around themselves – understood as core aspects of cognition, not merely the products of cognition.

“Learning as acquisition” – the Acquisition Metaphor – is probably the most commonly invoked learning metaphor in English. It is evident in such phrases as “grasping the point,” “taking things in,” “getting it,” “picking things up,” “hard to swallow,” “remember this stuff,” and “cramming for the test.” It is not theoretically sophisticated, relying on the assumption that knowledge comprises externalized objects, and asserting that learning is a process of moving those objects from the outside to the inside.

Operant Conditioning is a branch of Behaviorisms that is concerned with non-reflexive, voluntary behaviors that are under the learners’ control. It deals with rewarding or punishing target behaviors to increase or decrease their manifestation.

The Attainment Metaphor is prominent in current discussions of formal education. It frames knowledge as existing in discrete regions (e.g., fields, areas) to be traversed, and learning is typically framed as progressing across (and sometimes dwelling in) those regions. Learning is cast in movement-based sensibilities –e.g., as “getting there.”

Originally focused on adults developing professional skills, Situated Learning is concerned with how newcomers become full participating members in established communities. Highlighting that knowing and doing are inseparable, the theory asserts that learning can be powerfully interpreted as a process of apprenticeship.

Folk Theories exist within every realm of human engagement. They are, in effect, uncritical and often-indefensible principles of action and interpretation that are woven through everyday language and broad cultural sensibilities. In effect, most of the past 150 years of research into learning has been focused on exposing Folk Theories and exploring more conscious and scientifically robust alternatives.

Behaviorisms reject the notion that knowledge is some sort of external, stable, and context-free form. Rejecting attempts to explain learning in terms of unobservable mental processes, Behaviorisms focus instead on observable and measurable phenomena – thus operationally defining learning in terms of changes in behavior that are attributable to environmental factors.